A move closer to chess in schools

Many good arguments exist for starting to teach chess in schools, as noted in the article on “Game plan for education” in the previous issue of Norwegian Continental Shelf

Astri Sivertsen

Facsimile from Norwegian Continental Shelf 1-2014.

A new move to promote this idea was staged by chess masters Garry Kasparov and Magnus Carlsen at the Norwegian Storting (parliament) on 23 March.

While the first-named gave a speech on how the game develops concentration and decisiveness in children, Carlsen played a simultaneous exhibition against Storting representatives – who were helped by talented young players.

This two-hour session was a cross-political initiative organised by five parties spanning from far right to far left in cooperation with the Norwegian Chess Federation.

Their goal is a trial project which can demonstrate the effect of chess teaching on children’s results in school, explains federation chair Jøran Aulin-Jansson.

“The meeting was a big step forward. It’ll be used as a reference for future work, where the initial aim is to get the government to financial a research project in 50-100 schools.”

In the longer term, the chess enthusiasts hope to be able to offer an hour of chess teaching per week for pupils in years three or four (eight-nine years old).